Motif: fall colors

[Jerry van Dijk]

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld (IS), fl 42 mm (250 mm DSLR equivalent), ISO 200, F/3.6, 1/125 sec. pattern metering, no EC.

Found this wonderful purple colored mushroom (still have to look up its name) and many more on a fall hike through the woods. More to come. I find it difficult to come up with interesting compositions with these large, single mushrooms on the forest floor. Most of the frames I shot on this trip vary between boring to downright ugly. Any suggestions or examples?

- Jerry -

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Jerry,
I like your composition, The think that distracts me are the bright white oof blotches in the top portion of the background. I made a few minor adjustments to your image to illustrate a much stronger image...I cropped just a little from the top, diffused the bright white spots, blurred the background on top a little more, to focus all of the attention on the mushroom, increased saturation and contrast just a tad, and selective sharpened the mushroom...see if this presents better for you...:cool:

[Gail Spitler]

Jerry - Great suggestions from Gus. I share your frustration that many mushroom images can seem rather boring, the re-post really gave the subject some punch.
Thanks for sharing the image and the quandary. Both were helpful to me
Gail

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Gus, that is an impressive difference with the original and I like it very much! I was a bit afraid to push the saturation on this image, but now I see I shouldn't have been! Alterations to the BG are also a very good idea. I guess making an interesting image of a mushroom is all about making it really stand out from it's surroundings.
Thanks for showing me what is possible with this image!
- Jerry -

[Alfred Forns]

Excellent re post Gus The feel jumped off the scale !!! Love it !!